Last Update: January 22, 2023, 5:55 pm IST
Virat Kohli is just three centuries away from equaling Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI tons. (AP Photo)
Virat Kohli has been a prolific run-getter for India, scoring 74 international centuries across all formats, the second most by any batsman after the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
batting giants Sachin Tendulkar Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers to have ever played the game. A cursory glance at his stupendous numbers across formats is enough to inspire awe and immense respect.
However, Tendulkar’s batsman is much more than numbers. Those who have seen his mastery know the challenging conditions (bowlers, pitches, match conditions etc.) under which he scored these runs and they add more weight to his record.
And he did so at the international level for 24 years. No wonder he retired as the highest run scorer in both Test and ODI history and still holds the record.
Considering his astonishing numbers, a player must have an extraordinary record to compare with Tendulkar.
Virat Kohli has done exactly that. At least in ODIs where he is scoring runs at a blistering pace and scoring hundreds for fun.
Sample this: Tendulkar scored 49 hundreds in 452 ODI innings. Kohli has scored 46 runs in just 261 innings. Again, playing conditions have changed significantly as a man-to-man comparison was a difficult matter during Tendulkar’s playing days.
So when the question was asked to the legendary Kapil Dev, he looked fully prepared.
The 1983 World Cup-winning captain feels that every generation produces better players and hence comparisons are futile.
“A player of that caliber, you don’t need to pick one or two,” Kapil said. gulf news, “This is a team of XI players. I may have my own likes or dislikes, but every generation is getting better.”
Sunil Gavaskar was one of the best players in our time so we saw Rahul Dravid, Sachin, Virender Sehwag and this generation Rohit, Virat and next generation will be better. You will see a better cricketer and a better performance.”
For the record, Kohli does not call himself the GOAT (Greatest of All Time).
“No, I would not consider myself the goat of cricket. For me, only 2 people are eligible for this. It’s Sachin Tendulkar and Viv Richards,” Kohli had said star sports,
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